For over thirty years, microwaves have enjoyed ever-increasing use in consumer kitchens. Today, it would be difficult to find a household without one. However, despite such widespread success, microwave cooking has traditionally suffered from the inability to cook certain foods in a satisfactory way. For example, while microwaves have always excelled in popping popcorn, heating leftovers or defrosting foods, the cooking of meats has resulted in tough meat that is not browned. The browning of food, and in particular the searing of meats to provide the taste experience of crisped surfaces produced on stovetops, has long been a goal of microwave-using cooks. The ability of a microwave container to brown food is a desirable characteristic.
Microwaveable containers must also be durable and convenient to use. One key reason for the success of microwave cooking is the ease and speed with which it is conducted. This has met a need in modern households, where set-piece meals have become less common. To avoid undermining this prime benefit of microwaves, however, a microwaveable container should be easily cleaned in the sink, so that the container, once used, can quickly be returned to action. This requires simplicity of design that avoids configurations having numerous interconnecting parts, or the need for disassembly to clean, since if the container must be taken apart to clean hard-to-access areas, or if many parts must be cleaned, it cannot be quickly reused.
Durability is also a necessary attribute of microwaveable containers. Since a microwave is often used numerous times for a single family meal, microwaveable containers must accommodate this requirement. This necessitates that outer contact surfaces of the container be sufficiently hard so as not to be damaged or dislodged in the normal wear and tear that will be encountered on countertop, sink or dishwasher.
Finally, the microwaveable container must comply with all regulatory requirements associated with food-handling containers.
Efforts have been ongoing to improve microwaveable containers. U.S. Pat. No. 7,067,778 discloses a microwaveable cooking container and microwave oven. U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,233 discloses a metal tray and susceptor for use in microwave ovens. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0237451 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,269,154 disclose ovenware for microwave ovens. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,523,549, 5,665,819, and 6,077,454 disclose ferrite compositions for use in microwave ovens. Nevertheless, a continuing need exists for microwaveable containers having durable design that are capable of browning food similar to stovetop cooking.